Monthly Archives: December 2012

Here are some excerpts from a report from October 26, 2012 by Stacey Mortensen and Dan Leavitt of the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission. This report makes very clear that the San Joaquin Trains will continue to run on the Continue reading →

Report and Photos by Noel T. Braymer Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them I woke up early on December 21st and noticed that the world hadn’t ended so I decided that it was good day to go for Continue reading →

There are 3 potential LAX Light Rail Station sites being considered. One is a possible subway station at the airport terminal area, the second at Lot C on the east side of Sepulveda Blvd as part of a larger transportation Continue reading →

Buying 40 ACELA cars as a small stand alone order was uneconomical from the start and that plan should never had gotten this far. If the ACELA is “profitable” as Amtrak claims, then shouldn’t those “profits” finance the purchase of Continue reading →

Edited by Noel T. Braymer Much happened with rail service in California and the best way to show it is to look back with photos. To enlarge a picture place cursor over the picture and left click with mouse.

Opinion and Photos by Noel T. Braymer Amtrak is leasing for at least the next 25 years 95 miles of railroad from the CSX of the Empire Corridor in upstate New York. The reasons for doing this are so Amtrak Continue reading →

Rumor has it? Back in 2011 Amtrak announced its intentions to buy 40 additional ACELA cars to add capacity to the ACELA Trains on the NEC. There was no discussion of “off the shelf” cars or a larger car order Continue reading →

Report by Noel T. Braymer with illustrations from LA METRO Los Angeles County has two major Light Rail extensions under construction now that are planned to be finished by 2015 which will be added to its existing 87.8 miles of Continue reading →

Analysis and Photos by Noel T. Braymer LOSSAN started out as a loose coalition, a network really of local elected officials, mostly city council members and mayors along the route of the San Diegans in the early 1980’s. Most of Continue reading →

The Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada

Rail Picture of the Day

This particular stretch of the Durango & Silverton is known as the “Cement Wall” with the track squeezed between the Animas River in the foreground and the immense rock cliff behind. The sun only reaches down here for a couple of hours each day. Here K28 #473 brings its mixed freight/passenger train upgrade towards the turnaround point of the day at Cascade, her big snowplow not needed on this unseasonably warm and snowless day. February 2015. Copyright 2015 by Lawrence Gross. All rights reserved.

Coming right at ya is the Shay Big 6. Clearly visible is the unusual
off-center left-side location of the boiler, which is counterbalanced by the
three cylinders and associated machinery on the right side of the
locomotive.
Cass Scenic Railroad, Cass, WV. May 2014.
Copyright 2015 by Lawrence Gross. All rights reserved.

The full moon is still clearly visible as Stock Extra 463 east pulls into
Chama from Durango.
Actually, the rails from Durango to Chama are long gone, leaving only this
stub track west of Chama as a remnant. But not a lot in this shot to say
that the year is 2014 instead of 40 or 50 years earlier.
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Chama NM, August 2014.
Copyright 2015 by Lawrence Gross. All rights reserved.

Flashback.
Bright is certainly the word for these two Chessie System GP40’s, ready to
pull the Chessie Steam Special out of Baltimore.
A disappointing outcome for me, as you can see ex-Reading T-1 2101 in the
left distance, down for the count with a mechanical problem that morning,
forcing the diesel substitution. But was there ever a more flamboyant paint
scheme than the Chessie, with its neon colors and sleeping kitty silhouette?
October 1977.
Copyright 2015 by Lawrence Gross. All rights reserved.

A cold afternoon in Bartlett, NH. 0-6-0 CN #7470 has dropped its caboose in
the runaround track and is drilling cars for local industries in a scene
that was played out hundreds of times a day in hundreds of locations back in
the steam era.
January 2009.
Copyright 2015 by Lawrence Gross. All rights reserved.

The Canadian has arrived early into the division point of Hornepayne, ON so
#6409 cools its heels waiting for scheduled departure. Meanwhile, the
dispatcher has given the single track railroad to an intermodal train which
heads out in front of the passenger, the lead unit assisted by a Distributed
Power radio-controlled mate on the rear. Eventually, the DS tucked the
stacker into the siding down the line and we ran around it without delay.
February 2015.
Copyright 2015 by Lawrence Gross. All rights reserved.